Comments 333

Re: Niantic Shares Staggering Stats For A Year In Pokémon GO And Pikmin Bloom

Matl

@Octane Theres little incentive to grow flowers, since they disappear after a few days which sorta defeats the point of them. But I am not sure how best they could remedy that.

Also, I dunno about others, but recently I have had bloom not actually record my steps or flowers when I set flower planting to ON, and I think it might be cus my phone is unable to handle as many pikmin getting stuff in the background and planting flowers at the same time? It was completely fine until i reached a pikmin squad size of about 20, then it just refused to track flowers, and even stopping it by itself completely after 15 minutes and saying I planted like 80 flowers, despite walking 15k - 20k steps a day at work with my phone running bloom in the background in my pocket.

I have no clue what the cause could be other than my phone not being super duper top of the line or anything, which suck if thats the case. So as a result I just haven't been growing flowers at all and as such my progression outside of actual step count has hit a wall.

Re: Pokémon Diamond And Pearl Remakes Passed 6 Million Sales In Launch Week

Matl

@Mauzuri Oh I couldn't care less about the games. Just annoys me to see pokemon put out such subpar titles and have them sell gangbusters. Thats literally it. They could make them with such quality but they just choose not to. I've grown to accept that the quality that they should be striving for (given they are the most profitable media franchise ever and all that) is never gonna happen. I just express my irks with it from time to time. Pokemon fans will buy up anything they put out.

Re: Modernised 'Panda' GameCube Controller Hits Kickstarter, Instantly Smashes Goal

Matl

This controller looks super cool, tons of nice features! Definitely something for the more pro side of the user base, so i don't see much use for this right now, but i may pick one up later on if possible. Would really like to know how the plastic feels more than anything, cus if its something like most 3rd party controllers then its an immediate no.

Also wanna know what colours they offer at a later date. The black and white looks very dull to me.

Re: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Version 13.0.1 Will Patch In The "Final" Fighter Adjustments

Matl

@Handy_Man at least your main gets buffs xD i despise k rool 90% of the time, even before the buffs. I feel when they do nerf lower tier characters it just makes them more infuriating to fight against, like with jiggs in the last patch. I don't know how they choose what gets changed when there are still glaring issues with some characters and general mechanics, that have just never worked right despite repeated attempts to do so (multihit moves getting round the board buffs over the years, very few of which actually funciton any better). This is especially the case with pit, my main. multihits just drop for no reason, stuff is just unable to kill, side b just doesn't work most of the time. Lots of small stuff they could easily change but choose not to cus elite smash determines who they patch. Hence the bizarre patches in the past buffing already annoying and great characters.

Re: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Version 13.0.1 Will Patch In The "Final" Fighter Adjustments

Matl

@mr_somewhere issue with characters like Mac is that they aren't seemingly allowed to change those characters outside of the preestablished niche they fill. So they can't really make Mac have an air game cus it is against the design philosophy of his character, despite how much he may need it to be better overall. This applies to all the characters, they can't change movement stats or such, just individual moves and even then those moves can't suddenly take on a whole new function than originally intended

Re: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Version 13.0.1 Will Patch In The "Final" Fighter Adjustments

Matl

@mr_somewhere every patch buffs low tiers, but it's always insignificant. "Kirby up air is now 1 frame faster" changes nothing about the flaws of the character and is just more of a "oh, that's nice" than an actual substantial change.

Occasionally they have nerfed top tiers in somewhat needed ways, but it never has an impact on the greater competitive scene beyond "wario is now top 8 instead of top 5" sort of thing. Very, very rarely have they actually changed characters in a functional way, which is why I mentioned 8.0 being the last great patch, since it altered some of pit's moves that actually made him better and more viable overall.

Re: MultiVersus From Warner Bros Is A Free-To-Play Platform Fighter, Skipping Switch

Matl

Likely due to the game utilising rollback. Apparently the switch seems to be unable to handle it; Smash, nickelodeon and now this all couldn't make it work.

As for the game itself? No too bad, you can definitely see that there is a good heap of money behind this. Animaitons looks great, game seems to have a coherent artstyle and general aesthetics look pretty good. The cartoony look works well as a middle ground between actual cartoon characters and the adapted more realistic characters.

Hopefully it doesn't turn out awful. I'll probably try this with my younger brother who is a comic books nut, and team based at its core means it should be more fun for the both of us too.

Re: PSA: Watch Out! Pokémon Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl Leaks Are All Over The Internet

Matl

Oh no(?)

It's a 15 year old Pokémon game. There is literally nothing story wise to spoil, every Pokémon game has such a barebone plot that it hardly matters. And like some have said, seeing if they have some elements from the original that may have been cut because Pokémon Devs are like that isn't really a bad thing. It's stuff they should have detailed before launch.

If you get that upset about it... I mean, good for you? But it's Pokémon at the end of the day, it's not like there is some super deep rich plot to spoil or the like. "Oh no they spoiled like the two new variants they added" is probably the most I could see as a true spoiler. And even then, that's likely not even a thing for this game so that's out the window

Re: My Nintendo Physical Rewards Have Disappeared In North America

Matl

Welp, looks like they're packing up the awful rewards. What a shame(?). Wouldn't be surpirsed if this spread to the other regions too.

Maybe they realised not enough people were getting the cheap paper products they were offering and as such are rethinking the rewards they offer...

Hopefully...

Re: My Nintendo Adds Some Rather Nice Metroid Dread Wallpapers

Matl

@Lyricana I am aware. None if them are particularly great though. Best we got was like the animal crossing bag? Outside of that there was a Zelda phone ring, and literally everything else I can recall has been something made of paper. Postcards, paper calendar, sticky note pad, luggage tag. None of those I would deem worth getting at all outside of this rewards service, they're just random bits nobody is gonna get any use from. Should bring back soundtrack CDs from the club Nintendo days, just stuff of actual use and with recognisable effort put into the production of said items.

Re: Talking Point: How Many Hours Is A 'Short' Game For You?

Matl

Short games are games that can be beaten in one sitting. So stuff like a short hike, while a great game, took a couple of hours to get my fill with it. Of course it differs per genre (RPGs for example), but generally something that is like 5 hours or less I would deem as "short".

Those saying that AAA games being short are just wrong, especially in the case of metroid dread recently. Personally I would have paid £40 for it max, but I jumped the gun and got it day one for £50 instead. Still kinda worth it, but personally I would have felt better paying a tenner less for it. Still an amazing game though, and certainly worth the full price bases purely on its quality and attention to detail alone. On a personal level, of course it's going to differ, but as the product presented it certainly has £50 worth of "stuff" there to justify the price.

Re: Wow, Nintendo Switch Was First Revealed Five Years Ago Today

Matl

@HamatoYoshi Good for you, dude. Not everyone will have perfect experiences with their technology, and with switch its much higher than should usually be expected. I can guarantee that I have handled my switch with care since launch, and yet it still has a card slot that requires me to prise out the cartridge from, a cracked shell in multiple places from quite literally nothing, and my launch set of joycon just completely broken from normal use (my subsequent sets of joycon are fine, since I never really used handheld outside the "honeymood period" of the switch).

Just because your system works fine, doesn't mean that you need to be so aggressive to others who have had a less pleasant time with their consoles, Also, may I remind you, most prior Nintendo technology has never, ever had as many blatant flaws and widespread issues as the switch. Sure its the games that matter at the end of the day, and I ove the switch for that, but the console itself? Not particularly fond of having these small problems that add up to a less than stellar user experience on a daily basis.

Re: Wow, Nintendo Switch Was First Revealed Five Years Ago Today

Matl

@HamatoYoshi Sure, 4 years is a long time... but Nintendo has a pedigree of having consoles that just seem to withstand anything. Pretty much all their handhelds and most of their consoles are sturdy as bricks, and switch just... isn't in comparison. I still have consoles as old as the DS lite that are in better condition than my switch, and my switch has plenty of issues from normal usage. This is coming from someone who plays primarily docked 95% of the time too, which means theres even less obvious reasoning as to why the card slot doesn't work half the time, the shell is cracked, the joycon are broken, etc. Switch just isn't a well made console at all.

Re: Wow, Nintendo Switch Was First Revealed Five Years Ago Today

Matl

Remember seeing the trailer in the car on the way home from school one day, was instantly enamoured with the concept. Pestered my parents endlessly for one and luckily got it for my birthday in April.

Shame the concept has completely worn off of me now. Handheld just isn't fun and holds back games that could really use the extra boost to run well like the Xenoblade titles, which makes me sad thinking about how much more crisp they could look with better hardware. One day...

Re: Poll: As Sora Joins Smash Bros. Ultimate, How Much Of The DLC Roster Do You Own?

Matl

@Fantasia I have no clue, I needed three runs probably for a couple specific spirits that didn't show up often on the spirit board, since some spirits show up only in WoL and were needed for certain summonable spirits from what I remember. Plus having the massive influx of repeat spirits meant I could dismiss them for their cores and spirit points for easier levelling up.

It was also just something I could do when I just felt like booting up the game for a little bit and not deal with the online modes, kept me busy. New spirit board additions are usually over in minutes dues to broken spirit teams and using items to reduce waiting for other spirits introduced, and have very rarely given me more than 5 minutes of actual fighting to get them.

Re: Poll: As Sora Joins Smash Bros. Ultimate, How Much Of The DLC Roster Do You Own?

Matl

Got everything there is to get, kind of have to since its the biggest crossover game ever. It wouldn't be right not getting all the Mii outfits (despite the fact I never ever use them).

As an aside, I basically have everything in the game done and unlocked. All classic modes, all rewards, every single spirit porperly owned once at their highest level (this took a massive amount of time with 3 separate 100% runs of world of Light to do, as well as what felt like a million years in the dojo to level up when I lacked enough spirit points to level up characters that way). This game is massive beyond belief.

Re: Nintendo Leaker Suggests Pricing Of Switch Online's Expansion Pack Could Be Tied To "Licensing Costs"

Matl

@Varkster To be fair, the price hike probably comes from both the value the games hold to nintendo/sega AND the animal crossing dlc to an extent. We just aren't sure how much of an extent this is balanced out. But nintendo certainly isn't just giving away the AC dlc for free, I think they would have more sense than to charge what they are if it was just the N64 and sega games withough the AC dlc.

Re: Nintendo Leaker Suggests Pricing Of Switch Online's Expansion Pack Could Be Tied To "Licensing Costs"

Matl

@Varkster Yeah, I always thought the N64 library was very limited in the first place. And honestly, not the absolute best games? Like I played OOT 3D which is just an improved version of the og N64 version, and I just don't enjoy the game, let alone understand how people think its hands down THE best game of all time. There are certainly gems but they all seem very hit or miss, and only thrive based on nostalgia more than anything. They almost certianly goona have trouble filling up the months with quality games, and its just gonna be "filler" games nobody wants or has heard of, just like with the NES and SNES games already on the service.

As for GameCube? I think they value the games too much to be a part of the the service, cus thats when you get to some truly quality games that Nintendo could rerelease on their own or have HD versions of (such as wind waker and twilight princess HD, they are definitely coming to switch at some point). I think they will cough up the game boy through to game boy advance at best, and even then it'll be the super slow pace with the games nobody wants/has heard of, blah blah blah...

Its just disappointing seeing how game pass is handled and seeing nintendo's offerings looking very pitiful in comparison. Hope that changes sometime soon. I would love to play these older games if they could nail the price to content ratio.

Re: Nintendo Leaker Suggests Pricing Of Switch Online's Expansion Pack Could Be Tied To "Licensing Costs"

Matl

@Varkster I agree it's different for different people, it's certainly an option and not necessary so that's at least some good in all of this. It's just not a good spot to be in at launch, much like the original NES and SNES lineups being criticised in much the same way, but at least they were part of the default plan. This pro membership is gonna get better, sure, it's just gonna be a hard sell for people until it gets a good chunk of the N64 and sega library and probably one or two other bonus things too. And even then, how much better it gets is basically gonna be random, seeing how Nintendo approaches these sort of things in the past.

Let's just hope it's something more worthwhile down the road, cus only then will people see such a sharp price hike and even begin considering the pro membership as even something that is worth the massive jump Nintendo is charging.

Re: Nintendo Leaker Suggests Pricing Of Switch Online's Expansion Pack Could Be Tied To "Licensing Costs"

Matl

@Varkster that's true, it does really only appeal to those who want the retro games. But even then, the large price hike is too much for many people, reactions online from people big and small are all saying it's too much. And the roadmap? It's like... Majora's mask and banjo kazooie... That's not much of a roadmap at all.

And then there are those who are only sorta interested in the retro games, like myself. I would be on board, but the price is just way too high just because I am not that invested in the N64 stuff to even consider upgrading. The sega stuff does absolutely nothing for me either, nor does the animal crossing dlc, so I would be paying a massive price hike for N64 games I don't care too strongly about (but am interested in trying). I could just emulate at the end of the day if I am that desperate too, though that's really a last resort thing and I haven't delves into it much at all.

If they want it to succeed it has to appeal to a wider market, cus it's either you love the retro offerings and/or animal crossing to such a point that it's worth it to you specifically, or you aren't. The comment I made earlier of having multiple dlc passes to pick from like the old botw and splatoon expansion passes would greatly incentivise more people to try the service, especially if the dlc was available to keep regardless of if you have the upgraded online service or not. It needs more variety of Nintendo wants as many people on board as possible, which they definitely do otherwise they would be putting these new libraries in with the base line service.

It's just too underwhelming for a vast majority of people for people to care, or too pricey for those who aren't super invested in the retro stuff and AC dlc. More power to those who can see some value in the service, though. Wish I could be one of you.

Re: Nintendo Leaker Suggests Pricing Of Switch Online's Expansion Pack Could Be Tied To "Licensing Costs"

Matl

@Varkster I think you're forgetting that the NES and SNES libraries have been trickling out their games for the service, with some key games such as earthbound still not there. They put games out every 3 or 4 months, and when they do they are games nobody really wants or has heard of, it is gonna be the exact same with N64 library.

It may be "cheaper overall" for the rental model, the problem is the vast majority of people do not value these retro libraries as highly as Nintendo are asking for them. Add to that the fact the animal crossing dlc isn't even to keep, and plenty of people will get nothing from that (so the price hike is for just the N64 and sega games, making that seem much worse too), means we have this reaction from the majority of people who care about the service. It's just not good unless you are in a specific niche group that:

  • can either have a mostly full family group that is willing to all chip in to the new service
  • cares that much about N64 and sega games that the cost just doesn't matter to you cus you love those games that much
  • someone who just doesn't care about the ownership angle of the whole situation with the dlc and/or retro games

Those who are happy are vastly outweighed by those who aren't. There are reasons people are kicking up as much of a fuss as they are.

Re: Nintendo Leaker Suggests Pricing Of Switch Online's Expansion Pack Could Be Tied To "Licensing Costs"

Matl

Oh yay, sega games that have been released a million times on every platform under the sun... if only there were another way to play them...

The whole service is such a mess. N64 and sega games aren't that big a draw for most, a lot of people don't care for animal crossing so the dlc is pointless and just drives up the price, and that dlc isn't even yours to keep? What???

At this price point they need a couple more console libraries before its worth it. That and make the dlc actually yours to keep, having it only accessible during the sub is such a stupid idea.

They could have any number of the dlc passes they have for games available, say they provide 3 and you pick one per year as a bonus to keep.

So you could have this AC dlc, octo expansion and xenoblade 2 torna expansion to choose from, and you keep one of those. As they go on, they add other passes (age of calamity, botw, smash passes 1/2, etc.) and every year you get to choose one of them as a bonus. Cus i can garuantee that not a ton of people will be buying the passes for older games like botw or splatoon 2, having them as bonuses for the online service incentivises people to play and/or buy the other games the dlc is compatible with. Its a win-win.

This whole service just needs a rework. Definitely not getting dragged in, nothing they are providing is worth as much as they are charging.

Re: PSA: Don't Worry, You Can Order The Switch OLED Dock's Rear Cover

Matl

going by the official store prices:
dock £60
AC adapter £25
HDMi £13
joycon £70
joycon rails £5
joycon grip £13
all that totals £186

the OLED model bundle is £310
so £310-£186=£124
the switch console on its own is valued at £124 going by all this

This is a gross scaling of prices for all these accessories. They can easily make these cheaper, there is no way it costs them that much to produce.

Like £25 for a single cable with mains plug? That can't be right.

Watch them up the price of the OLED dock if they ever introduce upscaling tech through an update.

Re: PSA: Don't Worry, You Can Order The Switch OLED Dock's Rear Cover

Matl

Great to see, and also awesome that the OLED docks are up for preorder too! £60 seems a little steep though, considering its... not really doing anything special. ESPECIALLY so considering it has no AC adapter or HDMi cable included... Maybe if it gets updated to include upscaling stuff or the like then it'll be worth the price.

Re: Poll: What Did You Think Of Yesterday's Nintendo Direct?

Matl

Eh, it was okay. A lot of it seemed to just be updates for games already out, and the new stuff wasn't particularly incredible to me. 3D Kirby looks alright, nice to hear Bayo 3 isn't dead, and the N64/Sega stuff on Switch online is pretty good.

Updates to mario golf and monster hunter were alright. Lots of third party things that I don't care much for, Splatoon 3 looks cool but the trailer wasn't much new. And the movie stuff... was weird, for sure.

There just wasn't really anything that jumped out to me, it would have been smash but like I thought they announced a final presentation for it instead, which is cool.

It just wasn't for me, which is fine. I am just waiting for a new Xenoblade more than anything, so I was gonna be sorta underwhelemed regardless of what else was shown. Oh well, maybe next time.

Re: This Switch Case Lets You Store Eight Cartridges, Available Now From My Nintendo (Europe)

Matl

Something sorta interesting and vaguely useful for once! Not sure how many people would get proper use out of this, since only those who take lots of carts with them on trips and such are likely the only ones benefitting. And even then, there are more compact cases for that sort of thing that also store a whole lot more carts.

At least they're slowly getting somewhat better with the rewards, just gotta hope they keep it up and not devolve back to bits of paper.

Re: Talking Point: It's A Golden Era For Video Game Music Fans, So How Do You Listen?

Matl

I own a bunch of game soundtrack CDs, but rarely listen to them mainly because I lack a good CD player and the only good one is in the family living room, so is not really something I can just set up and chill to. Otherwise its just the music on youtube.

One thing I wish for is to just have the soundtracks available in a digital format but not having to import or be lucky on ebay finding them. Cus I would for sure be buying a lot more CDs if I could get them easier. At least bring back the CD rewards from club nintendo days, that'd be amazing.

Re: Poll: Why Do You Collect Video Games?

Matl

I mainly collect games I have some interest in playing at some point, which has basically meant filling out a lot of the 1st party library for GameCube, DS, Wii, and 3DS. I have some games that I have just cus they're rare (Japanese exclusive bit generation GBA series and slide adventure magkid, for example), and also basically every xenoblade game in both normal physical and collectors edition versions. Just need an individual copy of definitive edition, better get that before the prices rocket...

Also physical over digital any day, digital is reserved for smaller Indies and stuff on Steam.